laws; a man perfectly disposed to defend them against arbitrary ministers, and to promote the happiness of that people from among whom he was elevated, and by whom, without the least difficulty, he may be removed and blended in the common mass.

Again, under the British authority it was in effect declared, that we had no property; nay, that we could not possess any; and that we had not any of the rights of humanity. For men who knew us not, men who gained in proportion as we lost, arrogated to themselves a right to BIND US IN ALL CASES WHATSOEVER! But, our constitution is calculated to FREE us from foreign bondage; to secure to us our property; to maintain to us the rights of humanity, and to defend us and our posterity against British authority, aiming to reduce us to the most abject slavery!

Again, the British authority declared, that we should not erect slitting mills; and to this unjust law we implicitly and respectfully submitted, so long as, with safety to our lives, we could yield obedience to such authority; but a resolution of Congress now grants a premium to encourage the construction of such mills. The British anthority discouraged our attempting to manufacture for our own consumption; but the new constitution, by authorizing the disbursement of large sums of money by way of loan or premium, encourages the making of iron, bar-steel, nail-rods, gun-locks, gun-barrels, sulphur, nitre, gunpowder, lead, woollens, cottons, linens, paper and salt.

weal compels me yet to detain your attention, while I make an observation or two upon one particular part of the constitution.

When all the various attempts to enslave America by fraud, under guise of law; by military threats; by famine, massacre, breach of public faith, and open war: I say, when these things are considered on the one hand, and on the other, the constitution, expressing that some mode of government should be established, "until an accommodation of the unhappy differences between Great Britain and America can be obtained; an event which, though traduced and treated as rebels, we still ardently desire:" I say, when these two points are contrasted, can we avoid revering the magnanimity of that great council of the state, who after such injuries could entertain such a principle! But the virtuous are ever generous. We do not wish revenge: we earnestly wish an accommodation of our unhappy disputes with Great Britain; for we prefer peace to war. Nay, there may be even such an accommodation as, excluding every idea of revenue by taxation or duty, or of legislation by act of parliaments, may vest the king of Great Britain with such a limited dominion over us as may tend, bona fide, to promote our true commercial interests, and to secure our freedom and safety-the only just ends of any dominion. But, while I declare thus much on the one side, on the other it is my duty also to declare that, in my opinion, our true commercial interests cannot be provided for but by such a material alteration of Upon the whole, it has been the policy of the British acts of navigation as, according to the British authority to oblige us to supply our the resolve of the honorable the Continental wants at their market, which is the dearest in Congress, will "secure the commercial advanthe known world, and to cramp and confine tages of the whole empire to the mother counour trade so as to be subservient to their com- try, and the commercial benefits of its respecmerce, our real interest being ever out of the tive members." And that our liberties and question. On the other hand, the new consti- safety cannot be depended upon, if the king of tution is wisely adapted to enable us to trade Great Britain should be allowed to hold our with foreign nations, and thereby to supply our forts and cannon, or to have authority over a wants at the cheapest markets in the universe; single regiment in America, or a single ship of to extend our trade infinitely beyond what it war in our ports. For if he holds our forts, he has ever been known; to encourage manu-may turn them against us, as he did Boston factures among us; and it is peculiarly formed to promote the happiness of the people, from among whom, by virtue and merit, THE POOREST MAN may arrive at THE HIGHEST DIGNITY.-Oh Carolinians! happy would you be under this new constitution, if you knew your happy

state.

Possessed of a constitution of government founded upon so generous, equal and natural a principle a government expressly calculated to make the people rich, powerful, virtuous and happy, who can wish to change it, to return under a royal government, the vital principles of which are the reverse in every particular! It was my duty to lay this happy constitution before you, in its genuine light: it is your duty to understand, to instruct others, and to defend it.

I might here with propriety quit this truly important subject, but my anxiety for the public

against her proprietors; if he acquires our cannon, he will effectually disarm the colony; if he has a command of troops among us, even if we raise and pay them, shackles are fixed upon us-witness Ireland and her national army. The most express act of Parliament cannot give us security, for acts of Parliament are as easily repealed as made. Royal proclamations are not to be depended upon, witness the disappointments of the inhabitants of Quebec and St. Augustine. Even a change of ministry will not avail us, because, notwithstanding the rapid succession of ministers for which the British court has been famous during the present reign, yet the same ruinous policy ever continued to prevail against America. In short, I think it my duty to declare, in the awful seat of justice and before Almighty God, that in my opinion the Americans can have no safety but by the Divine favor, their own virtue, and their

JOSEPH WARREN, M.D.

DOCTOR JOSEPH WARREN was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, on the eleventh day of June, 1741. His family, for as many generations as any thing is known respecting it, had been settled at or in the vicinity of his birthplace. His father was a respectable farmer, who had held several municipal offices in the town where he resided, and was esteemed a man of "good understanding, industrious, upright, honest, and faithful,-a serious, exemplary Christian, and a useful member of society." Joseph, after finishing the usual preparatory studies at the grammar-school of his native town, entered Harvard College in 1755, where he sustained the character of a youth of fine understanding, independent deportment, and generous principles. The particular incidents relating to this period of his life are lost to history, but one anecdote, illustrating the fearlessness and energy of his character, being left. Several students of Warren's class shut themselves in a room to arrange some college affairs, in a way which they knew was contrary to his wishes, and barred the door so effectually that he could not without great violence force it; but he did not give over the attempt to gain admission, for, perceiving that the window of the room in which they were assembled was open, and near a spout which extended from the roof of the building to the ground, he went to the top of the house, slid down to the eaves, seized the spout, and when he had descended as far as the window, threw himself into the chamber among them. At that instant the spout, which was decayed and weak, gave way and fell to the ground. He looked at it without emotion, said that it had served his purpose, and began to take his part in the college business. After graduating, in 1759, Warren commenced the study of medicine under the guidance of Dr. James Lloyd, a distinguished practitioner in Boston, and soon after entered into practice. In 1764, when the small-pox visited Boston, he was very successful in his treatment of that disease, which at that time was considered the most terrible scourge of the human race. This success won him many friends, the good will of whom he never lost, and his practice soon became extensive. The same year he married a daughter of Dr. Richard Hooton.

At the commencement of the disturbances in the colonies, consequent upon the passage of the Stamp Act, Dr. Warren entered the arena of politics, where he remained, enlightening the people with his pen, and with his oratorical reasoning directing public sentiment. Among the numerous expressions of his opinions at this period is the following, taken from a private letter addressed to a clerical friend in England. "Never has there been a time, since the first settlement of America, in which the people had so much reason to be alarmed, as the present. The whole continent is inflamed to the highest degree. I believe this country may be esteemed as truly loyal in their principles as any in the universe; but the strange project of levying a stamp duty, and of depriving the people of the privileges of trials by juries, has roused their jealousy and resentment. They can conceive of no liberty where they have lost the power of taxing themselves, and where all controversies between the Crown and the people are to be determined by the opinion of one dependant; and they think that slavery is not only the greatest misfortune, but that it is also the greatest crime (if there is a possibility of escaping it). You are sensible that the inhabitants of this country have ever been zealous lovers of their civil and

* * *

religious liberties. For the enjoyment of these they have fought battles, left a pleasant and populous country, and exposed themselves to all the dangers and hardships in this new world; and their laudable attachment to freedom, has hitherto been transmitted to posterity. Freedom and equality is the state of nature; but slavery is the most unnatural and violent state that can be conceived of, and its approach must be gradual and imperceptible. In many old countries, where in a long course of years some particular families have been able to acquire a very large share of property, from which must arise a kind of aristocracy,—that is, the power and authority of some persons or families is exercised in proportion to the decrease of the independence and property of the people in general;—had America been prepared in this manner for the Stamp Act, it might perhaps have met with a more favorable reception; but it is absurd to attempt to impose so cruel a yoke on a people who are so near to a state of original equality, and who look upon their liberties not merely as arbitrary grants, but as their unalienable, eternal rights, purchased by the blood and treasure of their ancestors,-which liberties, though granted and received as acts of favor, could not, without manifest injustice, have been refused, and cannot now, or at any time hereafter, be revoked."* Dr. Warren contributed several spirited articles to the Boston Gazette, under the signature of A True Patriot. In his letter to Governor Bernard, published in that journal, in February, 1768, he displays his characteristic decision and energy. After expressing his knowledge of the governor's enmity to the province, and the calumniation heaped upon its inhabitants by that official, he concludes: "But I refrain, lest a full representation of the hardships suffered by this too long insulted people should lead them to an unwarrantable revenge. We never can treat good and patriotic rulers with too great reverence. But it is certain that men totally abandoned to wickedness can never merit our regard, be their stations ever so high.

'If such men are by God appointed,

The devil may be the Lord's anointed." "

This article so excited the governor that he despatched a message to the House, and another to the Council, calling their attention to it. The Council pronounced it a scandalous libel; but the House was of opinion that as no particular individual, public or private, was named, it could not affect the majesty of the king, or the true interests of the colony. It was also laid before the Grand Jury; but that body made no presentment. Thus it remained; its author receiving no other rebuke than the opinions of the "royal followers," who called it "a most abusive piece against the governor." Undaunted by the decision of the Council and the friends of the governor, Dr. Warren continued his publications, maintaining the rights of the people. "Every society of men," said he, "have a clear right to refute any unjust aspersions upon their characters, especially when they feel the evil effects of such aspersions; and, though they may not pursue the slanderer from motives of revenge, yet are obliged to detect him, that so he may be prevented from injuring them again. This province has been most barbarously traduced, and now groans under the weight of those misfortunes which have been thereby brought upon it. We have detected some of the authors: we will zealously endeavor to deprive them of the power of injuring us hereafter. We will strip the serpents of their stings, and consign to disgrace all those guileful betrayers of their country. There is but one way for men to avoid being set up as objects of general hate, which is not to deserve it."

Dr. Warren pronounced two orations in commemoration of the massacre perpetrated in King street, Boston, on the evening of the fifth of March, 1770. The first was delivered at the Old South Church, in 1772. For this effort he gained little applause, yet the fervor he displayed exerted powerful effect upon the minds of the people.t On the occasion of the second oration, in 1775, Warren displayed a loftier spirit and a greater energy. It had been openly avowed by some of the British soldiery then in Boston, that whoever should attempt an oration upon that occasion should answer for it with his life. Undaunted at this threat, and wishing for the

* A copy of this letter, which is curiously illustrative of the state of public feeling in New England upon the subject of the Stamp Act, is published in Loring's "Boston Orators," with an account of its origin, recovery, &c.

+ Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts Bay, Vol. Third, page 848.

honor of braving it, Warren solicited the appointment of orator. On the day appointed for the performance, the Old South Church was filled to excess. The pulpit and the avenues leading to it, were crowded with the officers and soldiers of the royal service. To prevent confusion, Warren entered from the rear of the church through the pulpit window, and, unaffected by the hostile array before him and around him, he delivered the oration, with a firm and determined purpose. "The scene was sublime," says an eloquent modern writer. "A patriot, in whom the flush of youth and the grace and dignity of manhood were combined, stood armed in the sanctuary of God, to animate and encourage the sons of liberty, and to hurl defiance at their oppressors. The orator commenced with the early history of the country, described the tenure by which we held our liberties and property, the affection we had constantly shown the parent country, boldly told them how, and by whom these blessings of life had been violated. There was in this appeal to Britain-in this description of suffering, agony, and horror, a calm and high-souled defiance, which must have chilled the blood of every sensible foe. Such another hour has seldom happened in the history of man, and it is not surpassed in the records of nations."

A few weeks after the delivery of this splendid production, Warren entered the field for the maintenance of the principles he had avowed. On the return of the British troops from Concord and Lexington, in April, 1775, he was in attendance upon the Committee of Safety at West Cambridge, and when they approached, he went out in company with General Heath to repel them. A sharp engagement ensued, during which a musket ball passed so near the temple of Warren as to cut off one of the "long, close, horizontal curls" which, according to the fashion of the times, he wore above his ears. The people were animated with his cool and determined bravery, and their confidence in his gallantry and talents was unbounded. At this time Warren was the President of the Provincial Congress, in which position he discovered extraordinary powers of mind, and great fitness for the emergencies of the times. On the fourteenth of June he was chosen a major-general of the Massachusetts forces. Two days afterwards, in a conversation with Elbridge Gerry, respecting the determination of Congress to take possession of Bunker's Hill, he said, that for himself he was opposed to the measure, but as the majority had decided upon it, he would hazard his life to carry it into effect. Mr. Gerry remonstrated with him, and concluded by saying, "As surely as you go there you will be slain." Warren replied with enthusiasm, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.”—It is pleasant and honorable to die for one's country. These principles were sealed with his blood. On the morning preceding the battle he was at Cambridge, and hearing of the preparations going on at Charlestown, he mounted a horse and rode to the place. He did not arrive at the battle-ground until the enemy had commenced their movements for the attack. As soon as he made his appearance on the field, the veteran commander of the day, Col. Prescott, proffered him the command, but he declined taking any other part than that of a volunteer, and added that he came to learn the art of war from an experienced soldier, whose orders he should be happy to obey. Borrowing a musket from a soldier who was retiring, he mingled in the thickest of the fight, where his example encouraged the troops to deeds of honor and bravery. When the battle was decided in favor of the British, and the retreat of the Americans commenced, a ball struck Warren on the head, and he died in the trenches.* His death caused the deepest sorrow in the community, and the sacrifice of so noble a victim produced a stronger determination on the part of the colonists to preserve their rights and liberties.

* Allen's Biographical Dictionary